Protagonist (Persona 5)

After Futaba enters her own Palace with the Metaverse Navigator, she manages to overcome her own feelings of self-loathing and awakens to her Persona. If a god plays naughty, then it's a demon lord's duty to punish him! Akira on the Persona 5 Dengeki Comic Anthology cover. At the restaurant, the protagonist and Ryuji meet a man named Masayoshi Shido who rudely looks down on them. Close-up anime design of Ren.

Protagonist

During the ride, he recalls an incident where he witnessed a woman being sexually harassed by a man and stopped him. In his drunken stupor, the man accidentally fell without the protagonist touching him and injured his head. He blamed it on the protagonist and forced the woman to testify that it was the protagonist's fault. It is later revealed that the man was Masayoshi Shido , a powerful politician with strong connections to the police department.

As a result of his intervention, the incident went down on his permanent record, and the protagonist was subsequently expelled from his school.

At the court hearing, he was told to transfer schools with Shujin Academy being the only school that would accept the protagonist with his current criminal record. Needing a place to stay, Sojiro Sakura offered to house the protagonist during his probation due to being an acquaintance with the protagonist's parents.

However, due to the protagonist's rumored criminal record, he does so begrudgingly. After he arrives at the Shibuya Crosswalk, a mysterious application starts up, much to the protagonist's confusion. The world around him slows to a halt, and a fiery blue figure manifests before his eyes, followed by a vision of the flames developing a red grin, and himself with yellow eyes.

Afterward, as time resumes, the protagonist seemingly deletes the application, and makes his way to the Yongen-Jaya Station, and later to the alleyway, where his new caretaker resides. He arrives to find Sojiro speaking with customers.

Sojiro is surprised that the "punk kid" he was asked to look after is the protagonist, implying that he once met the protagonist in the past. Sojiro shows him his new room, though despite it's a rather large size, Sojiro says he has to be the one to clean it up. He also touches upon the details of the incident for a brief moment before leaving him alone to clean up the room, though he also warns the protagonist that if he causes any trouble, he will kick him out.

As the protagonist prepares for bed, he recalls the incident, thinking to himself that he simply couldn't ignore the woman being harassed.

He hears his phone ringing, and to his surprise, he finds that the mysterious application from before is still there, despite having deleted it earlier.

He shortly falls asleep afterwards. Later, he awakens in the Velvet Room and finds himself in prison garb, even bound in handcuffs with a ball and chain on his leg. Igor greets him to his Velvet Room, and the twins tell him that he is still asleep in the real world. Caroline scolds him to stand up straight as Igor is present. Igor greets him, explaining that the Velvet Room is a place that exists between dream and reality, and is only accessible to those who have, in some form, made a contract.

He then explains that he brought the protagonist here in order to discuss an important matter that will affect his life. He also expresses surprise at the state of the Velvet Room, mentioning that it's form represents the state of the guest's heart. Igor also refers to the protagonist as a "Prisoner of Fate," and that destruction awaits him in the future.

Igor informs him that there is a way to avoid that destruction, stating that he must be "rehabilitated into a free man. After the protagonist gives his answer, Igor expresses his delight, saying that he will observe the miracle of his "rehabilitation. Caroline and Justine, his prison guards. Caroline tells him that fighting is pointless, whereas Justine informs him that, as his guard, it is their duty to protect him, but only if he is obedient. Igor states that he will explain the twins' importance another time, as dawn has already approached in the real world.

On his way to school the next day, the protagonist once again opens the mysterious app in his phone and then sees a girl, later introduced as Ann, being offered a ride to school by a teacher, Suguru Kamoshida.

As he sees them go to school, Ryuji arrives and calls Kamoshida a perverted teacher. The protagonist gets acquainted with Ryuji and inquires as to what he meant, which causes the app to activate, opening the path to another world: Inside the Palace, the duo is captured and placed in a cell where they encounter Shadow Kamoshida, the king of the palace.

Shadow Kamoshida restrains the protagonist as Ryuji is nearly executed. The protagonist hears a voice that questions if he is just going to keep quiet and reminds him of the incident that led to his probation. The protagonist recalls the incident, coming to the conclusion that he did not make the wrong choice to save the woman. In response to his determination, he then awakens his Persona, summoning Arsene. While escaping, they also encounter a cat-like creature, Morgana, who was captured and asks to be freed in exchange for showing them the way out.

Once the protagonist and Ryuji escape the palace and return to reality, they confront Kamoshida about his palace, unknown to the fact that his real self is unaware of events that occur in his palace. This causes Kamoshida to force the protagonist's classmate, Yuuki Mishima , to spread rumors about the protagonist regarding his probation to the whole school.

After visiting the world a second time and witnessing firsthand the physical abuse that Kamoshida inflicts on students, the protagonist and Ryuji decide to expose Kamoshida's true nature. The protagonist asks Ann, who is rumored to be sleeping with Kamoshida, about this and she confirms that Kamoshida is trying to force himself on her. Since no other students are willing to speak up against Kamoshida, Morgana proposes to make Kamoshida admit his wrongdoings by stealing his Treasure in his Palace, which represents his arrogance.

However, Morgana warns that if they kill Shadow Kamoshida, the real Kamoshida will suffer a mental shutdown, prompting him and Ryuji to think things over. The protagonist and Ryuji confront Kamoshida after witnessing Ann's friend, Shiho Suzui , attempt suicide due to no longer being able to put up with the abuse.

Kamoshida retaliates by threatening the protagonist and Ryuji with expulsion, forcing them to carry through with Morgana's plan. The three of them are then joined by Ann who wants to avenge Shiho. To make Shadow Kamoshida's treasure materialize, Ryuji pins a calling card on the school board to Kamoshida under the name "Phantom Thieves of Heart," enraging Shadow Kamoshida in the Palace.

They succeed in stealing Kamoshida's treasure causing Kamoshida to have a change of heart and confess all of his crimes in front of the whole school. Afterward, the bad rumors about the protagonist and Ann are no longer spread and the expulsions are dropped.

They decide to celebrate their success at an expensive restaurant by using the money from selling Kamoshida's treasure. At the restaurant, the protagonist and Ryuji meet a man named Masayoshi Shido who rudely looks down on them. The protagonist notices that Shido's voice reminds him of the man who falsely accused him, but quickly dismisses this thought. Their encounter with Shido convinces the protagonist, Ryuji, and Ann to continue their work as Phantom Thieves to steal corrupt hearts of adults and reform society so there will be no more victims like them.

Mishima, who knows of the protagonist's identity as one of the Phantom Thieves, created a website that also serves as a request board for the Phantom Thieves to take on missions. However, since not many people believe their existence, the Phantom Thieves decide to change another corrupt famous adult to make the group known. An opportunity arises when an art student and disciple of the famous artist Ichiryusai Madarame , Yusuke Kitagawa, asks Ann to become a model for his next work.

A former apprentice of Madarame, Natsuhiko Nakanohara , tells them that Madarame actually steals his students' paintings, resulting in one of his students committing suicide after his work was stolen.

Natsuhiko asks them to stop Madarame before he can steal Yusuke's painting, prompting the Phantom Thieves to accept Yusuke's request so they can try to investigate Madarame.

When the group directly asks Yusuke about Madarame's plagiarism, Yusuke fiercely defends his teacher and dismisses the group. After receiving more information from Natsuhiko and locating Madarame's Palace , Ann and Morgana attempt to find proof of Madarame's crimes while under the guise of modeling for Yusuke.

Ann finds proof of Madarame's plagiarism in his studio, which is accidentally revealed to Yusuke. They both confront Madarame about it, which forces him to threaten them by calling the police. They escape from Madarame and enter the Palace, Yusuke gets dragged in as well and he awakens his Persona after he realizes his teacher's true nature.

Yusuke decides to join the Phantom Thieves, wanting to reform his teacher. After defeating Shadow Madarame and stealing his treasure, he reveals that there's a third party besides them inside the Palace, but Madarame only reveals the person to be a person with a black mask. Yusuke recovers Madarame's treasure, the real "Sayuri" painting that his mother painted before her death.

Yusuke, no longer having a home, stays with the Protagonist at Cafe Leblanc for a few days, but eventually moves into a dormitory at Kosei High School.

As thanks to Sojiro for allowing him to stay temporarily, he gifts "Sayuri" to him, which is then hung on display at the entrance of the Cafe. Following Madarame's confession at live television, the Phantom Thieves' activities become known and attract many people, particularly high school detective Goro Akechi and student council president Makoto Niijima. During a study trip, the protagonist meets Goro who reveals his disdain towards the Phantom Thieves' actions.

Despite this, the protagonist gets well acquainted with Akechi. The principal of Shujin Academy also got worried so he asks Makoto to investigate the possibilities the Phantom Thieves are among the students of their school.

Makoto quickly gets suspicious of the protagonist and his friends, secretly following them and finally gets the proof in a form of recording of Ryuji who declares themselves as Phantom Thieves. She blackmails the protagonist to take her to their meeting place and demands the Phantom Thieves to show her their justice, promising to delete the recording if they can prove her wrong.

Left with no options, they take on her request to investigate an unknown man with yakuza connections who is extorting money form several Shujin students. Their investigation leads them to Junya Kaneshiro and enters his Palace , but cannot find his treasure since they do not know his whereabouts in real life.

Makoto brazenly manages to bring them to Kaneshiro himself, but in her hubris, the situation allows Junya to take a picture of them in his club surrounded by beer and alcohol. As an apology, Makoto requests to join them in their heist to make up for her mistake, awakening her own Persona in the process.

The heist leads them to a final confrontation against Shadow Kaneshiro, whom they defeat. In his defeat, Shadow Kaneshiro promises to delete the photos and turn himself in. However, he leaves them with a warning of a third party that manipulates Palaces and Mementos for their own ends without caring for the consequences.

Their success in changing Kaneshiro's heart further begins to attract attention to the Phantom Thieves, leading them to be confronted by the hacking group Medjed who warns the Phantom Thieves to stop their heists or else they will purge all of their supporters through a huge hacking attack. Medjed's offer, the protagonist receives an unknown chat from a mysterious hacker called Alibaba who requests him to steal a certain someone's heart in exchange they will take care of Medjed.

Should the protagonist refuse, they will leak his identity to the media. The protagonist and the others think that the chat is a mere prank, but Alibaba proves themselves that they do know about the protagonist by leaving a calling card in Leblanc.

Alibaba requests him to steal the heart of a girl named Futaba Sakura, who is revealed to be related to Sojiro. Since information about Futaba is too lacking, the protagonist tries to ask Sojiro, but he refuses to tell him anything and threatens to kick him out if he asks more. The protagonist tries to ask Alibaba for more detail and asks to meet them, but his request leads Alibaba to abruptly cancel their request.

The Phantom Thieves thinks that the problem has been solved with Alibaba not bothering them again until they heard from Akechi that Medjed has declared an all-out war against them, so they have no choice but to once again track down Alibaba. Makoto correctly deduces that Alibaba is actually Futaba herself, which is confirmed when Sojiro finally explains about Futaba after the protagonist and the others caught a glimpse of her when visiting Sojiro's house.

They confront Futaba and asks to make a deal with her again, which she agrees. After obtaining the key words necessary to enter her Palace , the phantom thieves enter her Palace, which is a giant pyramid. At first, they are not seen as threats since they have not adopted their Metaverse attire, but after meeting with Shadow Futaba, their clothes appear and are forced to run from a boulder threatening to crush them.

As they progress through the Palace, the party finds several murals, each depicting Futaba in some situation or another. The first is men in black reading her a note, later revealed to be a suicide note.

The second is her watching her mother, Wakaba Isshiki , being struck by a car, claimed to have been her suicide, and the third is Futaba trying to get her mother's attention. Their path to the treasure, however, is blocked by a blockade, signifying Futaba's unwillingness to allow anyone in her room. The group returns to reality, hoping to find a way to let Futaba allow them in, in order to destroy the blockade. They succeed in doing so, and through their first face-to-face encounter with her, they learn that Wakaba was a researcher of "cognitive psience," a study on one's perception of reality.

After leaving behind a calling card for Futaba, in order to have her treasure manifest, they reach the Pharaoh's Tomb, where the Treasure is supposed to lie, but are attacked by a cognition of what Futaba perceives as her mother - a woman who hates and loathes her for killing her, and tries to murder her. After Futaba enters her own Palace with the Metaverse Navigator, she manages to overcome her own feelings of self-loathing and awakens to her Persona.

They successfully manage to defeat the cognition, though, to their confusion, the Treasure is not inside the coffin. As the Palace begins to crumble after Futaba leaves, Morgana explains that Futaba herself was the Treasure, and with her being inside her own Palace for so long, it has become unstable. The group successfully leaves, albeit landing in front of Sojiro's store.

As the others distract Sojiro, Makoto and the protagonist look after Futaba, who is unconscious. Fearing the worst, the protagonist calls Tae Takemi , a doctor in Yongen-Jaya.

After a brief examination, Tae states that Futaba has unnaturally low stamina and strength, most likely due to her shut-in nature. Though the group is worried for her well-being, Sojiro explains that this is normal for Futaba, and can sleep for days on end due to how much she exerts herself. On the day Medjed is supposed to destroy Japan's economy and begin a 'cleansing' of Phantom Thief supporters, Futaba hacks into their website in just a few hours, leaving behind the signature logo of the Phantom Thieves.

Afterward, Futaba, in accordance with her hacking skills, is asked to join, who agrees, if only to find the one responsible for murdering her mother and stealing her research. Their victory against Medjed causes a boom in popularity, resulting in massive support and even merchandise to capitalize on their success.

Meanwhile, the protagonist helps Futaba overcome her social shyness over a few days, eventually bringing her to a beach. School resumes shortly after and Shujin Academy and Kosei High take a trip to Hawaii where they discover that their exploits have reached overseas. Unfortunately, back in Japan, Principal Kobayakawa dies when he is hit by a car in the middle of a crosswalk, leading some to believe that the Phantom Thieves murdered him for covering up Kamoshida's crimes.

They have little time to dwell on the matter, however, as the Phan-Site has made numerous requests for targets, the one with the largest result in the poll is Kunikazu Okumura , the wealthy CEO of Okumura Foods, which sponsors the famous Big Bang Burger restaurant.

Suspiciously, much of Big Bang's competition has fallen out, either due to mental breakdowns or psychotic breakdowns, leading the group to believe that Okumura may be behind the incidents.

After an argument with Ryuji spurred by Ryuji's thoughtless comments and his own growing insecurities , Morgana leaves the group and tries to take Okumura's heart by himself. The group becomes heavily worried, and believing that they might find him in Okumura's Palace , heads to their headquarters.

Thanks to Futaba, who discovered the "distortion" of the Palace, they enter the Palace, which resembles a giant space station.

Shortly after infiltrating the Palace, though, they are blocked by a door with a biometric scanner, leaving them unable to proceed. Then, to their surprise, Morgana appears alongside another thief, who proclaims herself as "Beauty Thief. To the thieves shock, Morgana's partner is able to bypass the biometric scanner, though the numerous Shadows forces them to leave. Deciding to investigate who this new thief is, and under the idea of her being a Shujin student, the group investigates the student roster of the female student body.

They eventually find a match - Haru Okumura, the only daughter of Kunikazu Okumura. Makoto and the protagonist encounter her and try to ask her to join them, though Haru refuses, the reason being that she cannot side with people who do not understand their friend's feelings.

The thieves later learn that many people on the Phan-Site are thanking them for their help, despite not handling their requests, leading them to believe that Haru and Morgana are the ones resolving them. To this end, they enter Mementos, in order to try and convince Morgana to come back. It nearly goes well, until Ryuji makes a thoughtless comment, hurting Morgana's feelings once again and causing him to leave. When they return to reality, the group discovers Haru being harassed by a man , and Morgana injured.

The man introduces himself as her fiance, and at first, tries to calmly pass the whole thing off as a little quarrel, but becomes angered by their continued interference, claiming that he will not forget their faces and leaves. Afterward, the group takes Morgana and Haru to Leblanc, where the latter can rest. The thieves learn that Haru, while having made a contract with her Persona, doesn't have enough power yet to make it manifest, and her reason for agreeing to become a phantom thief was simply to get out of her marriage, and Morgana's reason for leaving is because he is worried about them and cannot bear the thought of staying due to his own weaknesses.

The group, however, accepts him back nonetheless, thus mending their relationship. The group returns to Okumura's Palace, and after bypassing the scanner, encounter Okumura's Shadow, as well as his cognition of Haru's fiance, Sugimura. To their shock and disgust, Okumura was more than aware of his future son-in-law's nature and even stated that he would no doubt only accept Haru as a mere lover, not as his wife, and have many other mistresses. This angers Haru greatly, enough so that her Persona, Milady, finally takes form, and with the help of the party, destroys Cognitive Sugimura.

Afterward, they dive deeper into the Palace, and learn what Okumura truly thinks of his workers - robots who will work under any condition and will be disposed of if they break down. This horrifies Haru and resolves her to truly change her father's heart. After discovering the Treasure, the group sends the calling card, which Haru leaves in her father's study. The next day, when he finds it, he becomes angered and calls the police, claiming that this "band of ruffians have threatened a law-abiding citizen.

When they encounter Okumura, he, at first, seems remorseful and claims that he is happy to see Haru finally standing on her own two feet, though this is later a ruse to trick the thieves and capture them.

He then tries to persuade Morgana to try and abandon them, having watched their spat earlier. Morgana, however, refuses and frees the group. After they defeat Okumura, he is now left unsure of what to do, with Haru telling him to atone for what he has done.

The group also interrogates him about the recent mental shutdowns and breakdowns, which Shadow Okumura reveals that he is partially responsible; he had requested that they are targeted, but he does not state who is directly responsible for them. Afterward, they take the Treasure and leave, unaware that a figure wearing a black mask shoots Shadow Okumura afterward. On the day Haru was supposed to be sent off to Sugimura, the group celebrates at Tokyo Destinyland , which was reserved for them thanks to Haru.

They then watch a video of Okumura holding a press conference, where he reveals all of his sins to the media, though before he can reveal who is truly behind the mental shutdowns, Okumura suddenly collapses, with black liquid pouring out of his orifices. In the aftermath of Kunikazu Okumura's death, support for the Phantom Thieves plummets, with many believing that they publicly executed Okumura, even believing that their past actions were 'nothing but a warm-up.

Left unable to do anything for now, the group goes about their daily life, though to their surprise, Goro Akechi, who up until recently was under heavy fire for criticizing the Phantom Thieves by many, states that the Phantom Thieves may, in truth, be innocent behind the mental shutdown cases, and even Okumura's death. This leads Makoto to suggest getting into contact with Akechi, as he would be a viable source of intel about police movements.

She then invites him to an open panel at the school festival, where he reveals that he has an idea as to who the Phantom Thieves may be. Before he can reveal them, his phone goes off, though was, in actuality, a ruse to give him time so that he could speak with the group.

Akechi reveals that he took photographs of the group entering Okumura's Palace, and even says that he met the true culprit. Akechi is offering his assistance in the matter, though he says, in exchange, the Phantom Thieves must disband. After the climax of the heist in Niijima's Palace, the protagonist uses himself as a bait to lure the Shadows so the party can escape. When he exits the Palace, however, he is quickly apprehended by the police.

While in custody, he is interrogated by Sae. If the protagonist answered correctly, the protagonist reveals he knows that Akechi is the traitor so he already hatched a plan with his friends to expose him. He tells Sae to show his smartphone to Akechi, which has been programmed by Futaba using the Palace's reality-warping ability, saving himself when Akechi attempts to kill him and make it look like a suicide.

Afterward, Sae helps the protagonist escape and escort him back to Cafe Leblanc. Otherwise, if he sold out either the Phantom Thieves or his other Confidants, Sae promises to reduce his sentence and leaves the room, but Akechi enters and successfully kills him.

The protagonist finds himself in the Velvet Room afterward, the residents quite disappointed in him for failing to complete his rehabilitation. Igor tells him that the game is over, and imprisons him in the Velvet Room for the rest of his life. Once his apparent death is broadcasted, the protagonist has smuggled out of the Police building thanks to Sae and is brought back to Leblanc.

Unfortunately with his supposed "death," the protagonist is forced to lay low until the Phantom Thieves can identify the person who Akechi works for. Finding out that a politician Masayoshi Shido is the one Akechi is working for, he and the party tries to find the keyword to enter his Palace but got nothing until the protagonist remembers his voice, which is the same as the man who falsely accused him before.

From his reminiscence when Shido assaulted the woman, the protagonist finds out the keyword to enter Shido's Palace. Shido's palace takes on the appearance of a grand ship sailing among the sunken ruins of Toyko, with the Diet Building itself set atop the grand liner. During the heist, the Phantom Thieves learn more about the Conspiracy and their involvement in the series of events starting from Futaba's palace.

They used Medjed as a means to start a sharp rise in the Phantom Thieves' popularity. Then they forcefully manipulated the Phantom Thieves website to spur them into taking on Kunikazu's palace. Finally, they were the ones who ultimately killed Kunikazu, with the news station that broadcasting the conference in full knowledge of the assassination. After collecting all the Letters of Recommendation to finally enter Shido's treasure room, they are ambushed by Akechi who discovers that the protagonist is alive.

Akechi reveals his past, especially his relation to Shido and how he was going to use Shido's election to exact revenge when he stands at the pinnacle after winning the Prime Minister role.

Knowing that the Phantom Thieves are the only ones who can truly stop him, he attacks the party, revealing that he is another Wild Card user and has the ability to make Cognition and Shadows go berserk.

The protagonist puts up a valiant fight and backs Akechi into a corner. He reveals that he envies the protagonist for his ability to defy expectations put onto him and chart his own path. Driven mad from his anger at the protagonist for having everything he never could, Akechi reveals that he is the mysterious Black Mask assailant and also reveals his true Persona, Loki. Even after making himself go berserk, Akechi is no match for the protagonist and his friends and is defeated. Suddenly, Shido's Cognition of Akechi appears, revealing that he was fully aware of Akechi's impending betrayal and their relationship.

Shido planned on killing Akechi after he was sworn into office, leaving Akechi in disbelief of his actions. When Cognition Akechi tells Akechi to shoot the protagonist, Akechi instead decides to shoot a water lock, causing a large steel wall to separate them from the Phantom Thieves. Despite their pleas from them to help him, Akechi tells the protagonist to stop his father.

Two gunshots are fired and Futaba states that she can no longer sense Akechi, leaving his fate unknown. The Phantom thieves eventually make it to Shido's treasure room and prepare to steal his heart. Rather than send Shido a card which might be intercepted by one of his staff, Futaba suggests hacking the media and announcing to all of Japan of their intent to steal Shido's heart.

The protagonist agrees, formally announcing their intentions to steal his heart as well as expose the lies by the Police of his death. With the conditions set, the Phantom Thieves infiltrate Shido's Palace and meets his Shadow who speaks to them about his grand plan to be the next leader of Japan.

The protagonist reveals his face to Shadow Shido, causing him to faintly remembers the incident that caused the protagonist's probation. Fueled by his ego he shrugs off the revelation ad he even offers to let the Phantom Thieves join him in his cause in exchange for whatever they desire. The protagonist refuses and a fight ensues. Despite being the toughest Shadow faced, he eventually is brought down. The Phantom Thieves force him to return to his normal self and repent. In the real world, Shido is suddenly overcome with remorse due to his Shadow returning.

Having a contingency plan in case the Phantom thieves take his heart, he takes a special coma-inducing pill, causing his Palace to collapse violently.

Despite some complications during their escape and the seeming death of Ryuji, the Phantom Thieves make it out in one piece. However, even though Shido's crimes are exposed and he formally admits to them, the general public seems unfazed by the news with many still wanting Shido to be Prime Minister.

The party deduces that it must be Mementos that is manipulating the masses. Diving deep into the lowest depths of Mementos, the Phantom Thieves find one last Palace containing nearly the entire Tokyo population's Cognitions held the prisoner in cells. Among the prisoners are all of the Phantom Thieves former adversaries excluding Kunikazu. All of the jailed cognition are blissfully content with their imprisonment, alarming the Phantom Thieves greatly.

Reaching the very bottom of Mementos, the party encounters the Holy Grail who claims to be feeding human's desires to be enslaved to order and authority. The Phantom Thieves attempt to fight it, but the chalice uses the distorted desires of the masses to heal itself and eventually defeats the Phantom Thieves, forcing them back into Shibuya.

Back in reality, the Phantom Thieves watch as Mementos begins to merge with the real world as the citizens of the world, save the few confidants the protagonist made, are blissfully unaware. The Holy Grail mocks that they are powerless to stop him and that the masses lack belief in the Phantom Thieves will spell their end.

The Phantom Website's poll rapidly declines as more and more people lose belief in the Phantom Thieves. As the cognition of the world changes, the Phantom Thieves themselves disappear from reality as a result. The protagonist reawakens back in the Velvet Room where Igor informs him that the game is over and he has lost. Due to his loss, Igor orders that Caroline and Justine execute the protagonist. The two engage the protagonist in combat but become conflicted as their duties as a Velvet Room attendants towards its guest contradict their order to fight him.

The floating butterfly tells the protagonist that he needs to fuse Caroline and Justine and the twin wardens agree as well. After performing fusion with the twins, they combine into a singular being, a young girl named Lavenza, the true attendant for the protagonist.

He granted power to Akechi and the protagonist as a trial to see if humanity was worthy of being free from his influence. He then offers the protagonist to become his enforcer in exchange for returning the world to its former state.

If he refuses, "Igor" deems humanity to be incapable of living on their own accord and promptly leaves, and the real Igor appears and formally introduces himself to the protagonist. Despite Yaldabaoth's belief that the protagonist has lost, Igor gives him enough power to rescue his friends from their respective cells in the Velvet Room and releases them back into reality, tasking the Phantom Thieves to steal Yaldabaoth's heart.

He also reveals that Morgana was created by him as a last-ditch effort to guide the protagonist through their journey. Additionally, he can also accept Yaldabaoth's offer. If he does, the world returns to its original self, and the Phantom Thieves were recognized as national heroes and gain fame. However, the people in the world are incapable of thinking for themselves, and the protagonist becomes a force of terror in Tokyo working for Yaldabaoth. As an additional consequence, his teammates were presumably trapped eternally inside the Velvet Room and forever exiled from reality.

As the Phantom Thieves begin ascending to face Yaldabaoth, they are confronted by Angels who have also deemed humans unworthy to live without the god's influence, but the Phantom Thieves manage to defeat all of them. As they defeated the angels, more people started to become aware of the merged reality, much to their horror.

At the top of the tower, the party faces the Holy Grail once more where they successfully remove its supply lines from the masses, severing his connection to them. Yaldabaoth assumes his true form as a large mechanical god and attacks the Phantom Thieves to complete his plan. The Phantom Thieves are virtually helpless when confronting Yaldabaoth, who easily overpowers them.

However, the tables quickly turn when the party hears the voices of the masses, inspired by the cheering of Yuuki Mishima. Eventually, everyone believes in their existence, the protagonist is able to break the seal around Arsene, unlocking his true form as Satanael , a persona of a colossal size that rivals Yaldabaoth. Harnessing the people's wishes to not be controlled, the protagonist fires off a Sinful Shell from Satanael's gun, shooting Yaldabaoth point-blank through the head. Before the Phantom Thieves can celebrate, Morgana begins to disappear with Mementos as his existence is tied to it, much to the Phantom Thieves' sadness.

With reality restored, the masses seem to have forgotten about the events that had just occurred, however, many of the citizens have begun to openly talk about Shido's shady rumors. As snow begins to fall, the Phantom Thieves realize that it is Christmas Eve and go their separate ways for the day, promising to go to Cafe Leblanc to celebrate the next day.

Sae informs the protagonist that, even though Shido confessed his crimes, it is difficult to prove his guilt since there is little solid evidence and the other world no longer exists. Because Akechi has disappeared, the only ones who can offer proof are the Phantom Thieves. To properly prosecute Shido, the protagonist's testimony is necessary.

Reluctantly, Sae asks the protagonist to turn himself in as the Phantom Thief in order to protect his allies as well. Doing this also means he will be sent to a youth detention center and will be closely observed. The protagonist agrees to her suggestion to protect his comrades, however, he asks to turn himself in the next day due to plans he has.

If he is in a romantic relationship, he can choose to spend his Christmas Eve with his girlfriend. If he is single, he will spend it with Futaba and Sojiro. The protagonist follows through with his promise to Sae and is promptly placed into a youth detention center for interrogation.

He is charged for various crimes as the Phantom Thief for numerous crimes including illegal entry into Madarame's estate and Okumura Foods' office, destroying their property, and violating the Radio Law when the Phantom Thieves hijacked the airwaves to announce their plan to steal Shido's heart.

While imprisoned, he is summoned to the Velvet Room one final time, where Igor and Lavenza bestow upon him the World Arcana; a symbol that he is no longer an existence that wanders alone. After the Velvet Room and its two attendants disappear, the protagonist sees a blue butterfly fly past him before he awakens to the real world.

While incarcerated, the rest of the Phantom Thieves and the protagonist's other Confidants all go out and do whatever they can to help the protagonist appeal for his probation to be revoked. Due to their efforts, the woman who originally testified against the protagonist is found and she openly testifies to the protagonist's innocent in the original sentence, absolving him of his probation.

Sae, who spearheaded the case against Shido, informs him of her efforts in clearing his name alongside his Confidants and thanks him for exposing the corruption of government and finalizes his release on February 13th. He is then picked up by Sojiro and taken to the cafe where everyone, with the exception of Morgana, welcomes him back. While talking about Morgana, Ryuji asks the protagonist if he is going back to his hometown since the probation charges have been dropped, which the protagonist confirms.

The party then decides that if their leader goes back, the Phantom Thieves will officially be disbanded. Morgana appears shortly after, revealing that the one that disappeared is his other world self while his real-world self still exists. Morgana then decides he will stick with the protagonist to look for a way to become a human. The next day, on Valentines Day, the protagonist can spend it with his girlfriend at Cafe Leblanc if he is in a relationship and will receive gourmet chocolate as a present.

If he is single, Ryuji visits Cafe Leblanc and the two spend it together in pity with Ryuji giving him a cheap chocolate he received at a store. Humorously, if the protagonist is in a relationship with more than one of women, after his date, he will be confronted by all of his other girlfriends near the end where they promptly beat him up and take their chocolate gifts with them, including the one he spent the date with. Sojiro does damage control for him and gives him cheap chocolate out of pity.

A month later, the protagonist's probation period ends and he prepares to go home. The day before his departure, he says his final goodbyes to his fellow Phantom Thieves and Confidants with each one giving the protagonist a farewell gift if their confidant relationship is at its strongest.

On the final day, the protagonist hands Sojiro his probation journal as a final farewell gift to him for housing him over the year. At Shibuya crossing, he meets up with the Phantom Thieves who have acquired a van and plan on taking the protagonist home themselves.

Despite being free of his probation, two men in suits attempt to trail the now disbanded Phantom Thieves only to find their car stalled out due to Morgana swiping their car's spark plugs. As they near the protagonist's hometown, the protagonist pops his head through the sunroof and smiles in satisfaction. The protagonist is shown spacing off during class before he is hit with a piece of chalk by the teacher. Afterward, he receives a message from Ryuji, who asks him if they want to meet up at the usual place.

Later, Ryuji complains about the recent activity regarding the group of burglars who break into restaurants with lax security. Yusuke arrives, parting with Naoya Makigami , and informs the group they have a new request on the "Ask-a-Thief" Channel, in which the client of the requests is fearing for his life.

The group agrees to take the request, and the protagonist tails Naoya's older brother, Kazuya Makigami. When Kazuya arrives at the park, he asks Morgana to eavesdrop on their conversation, learning that Kazuya is a part of the group of burglars.

The next day, the protagonist and his friends begin their task of stealing the target's heart. To completely reform them, they need evidence, thus Ann and Ryuji give two of the crooks false information, saying that a shop in Yongen-Jaya is severely lacking in security, and the owner keeps all of his money in the shop. When the burglars arrive, the protagonist sets off a fake alarm system that causes the crooks to flee, though Kazuya takes with him a warning card, supposedly written by the Phantom Thieves.

Later on, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts begin their task to steal the target's heart, entering the Palace. There, they encounter their target; Kazuya Makigami. The client was actually his younger brother Naoya, who stated in the request that Kazuya physically abused him regularly in order to relieve stress from being with his group of burglars. The story focuses on the year-old protagonist after he is transferred to Shujin Academy in Tokyo , Japan, after he is put on probation after confronting a man harassing a woman, and subsequently being detained by the police because of the injuries he inflicts on that man.

In Tokyo, he stays with his parents' friend Sojiro Sakura who owns a coffee shop called Cafe Leblanc , where he lets the protagonist stay in an upstairs apartment. That night, in his dreams he appears in the Velvet Room , where he is also on probation set by Igor and his two wardens Caroline and Justine. The protagonist and Ryuji enter the Palace, a world manifested by corrupt adults. On his first day headed to Shujin, the protagonist meets his classmate Ann Takamaki , who gets a ride to the school, and problem student Ryuji Sakamoto who helps him find his way to the school.

However, after Ryuji complains about the physical education teacher Suguru Kamoshida who is the man who gave Ann a ride, he and the protagonist accidentally activate a mysterious app on the protagonist's phone, sending them to a castle full of hideous monsters. Just as they are about to be executed by a being identical to Mr. Kamoshida, the protagonist awakens to his Persona Arsene , saving them from death at the hands of Kamoshida's Shadow minions.

In this castle, they also meet up with a talking, shape-shifting cat-like creature known as Morgana , who teaches them about the nature of the Palace, Personas his own being Zorro and Shadows; he joins the protagonist in the real world disguised as an ordinary housecat.

Over the next few days, while trying to adjust to life as a student and going into the Palace with Ryuji who obtains his own Persona Captain Kidd as well, they discover that the Palaces are the representation of the distorted desires of the people around them, and the only way to get rid of a Palace is to steal its owners hidden treasure, changing their heart in the process.

This reaches a level of urgency when the protagonist and Ryuji's attempts to reveal that Kamoshida has been physically and sexually abusing students in his role as volleyball coach result in him threatening to expel them and fellow student Yuuki Mishima who Kamoshida recruited to spread rumors about the protagonist from the school. They are soon joined by Ann, who is accidentally drawn into the Metaverse with them and discovers the truth about Kamoshida's true personality after witnessing her friend Shiho Suzui attempt suicide due to Kamoshida's advances, gaining the Persona Carmen as well.

The group soon names themselves the " Phantom Thieves of Hearts " during their quest to steal the treasure from Kamoshida's Palace , leaving a calling card to prove their existence to cause the treasure to manifest, and ultimately preventing the protagonist and Ryuji's expulsion from school when Kamoshida admits guilt in his abuse of the students. The three kids also promise to help Morgana with his own quest: Meanwhile, Mishima promises the protagonist that he will make up for his mistakes in helping Kamoshida by opening a Phantom Thieves fansite, as he has surmised that the protagonist is responsible for the change of heart, allowing the public to air possible grievances linked to people's Shadow selves becoming distorted.

While investigating Mementos, the team discovers one Shadow self who has his own problems with his former art mentor Ichiryusai Madarame. They are soon tangled in this web when Ann is approached by Madarame's current pupil Yusuke Kitagawa who wishes Ann to model for him. They discover that Madarame has been plagiarizing his students' work for his own personal gain, and decide to try to get this information out of Yusuke to no avail, but they do discover Madarame's Palace , a massive art museum displaying all of his students as his previous "works of art.

Ann and Morgana panic when Madarame treatens to call the cops, traveling to the Palace and taking Yusuke along with them, where he confronts the Shadow Madarame who reveals his own part in the death of Yusuke's mother and he awakens to his own Persona Goemon.

After stealing the treasure and defeating Madarame's Shadow, the real Madarame publically apologizes for his plagiarism, and Yusuke joins the Phantom Thieves, seeking to develop his own art style in the wake of being abused for so many years. A few days later, teen celebrity Goro Akechi appears on TV, denouncing the Phantom Thieves as criminals who tamper with people's hearts.

During this time, Shujin student council president Makoto Niijima has been pressured by the school principal Kobayakawa to seek out the identities of the Phantom Thieves to assist the police, unaware that the principal has ulterior motives. She successfully deduces that the protagonist, Ryuji, Ann and Yusuke are the Phantom Thieves in question, and demands that they help her uncover a criminal ring shaking down students.

The protagonist uses his connections to discover the crime ring is lead by Junya Kaneshiro , but their inability to solve the problem leads to her confronting Kaneshiro herself, putting all of them in trouble when he attempts to blackmail them for millions of yen. However, this allows them to discover the nature of Kaneshiro's Palace being a bank covering Shibuya, and Makoto's disgust at the nature of Kaneshiro's actions and her own perceived ineptitude at solving the problem awakens her Persona Johanna.

With Makoto's help as a strategist for the Phantom Thieves, they successfully steal Kaneshiro's treasure, freeing them from his blackmail and leading to his arrest. Over summer vacation, the Phantom Thieves are taunted by the hacker collective Medjed when they are suddenly approached by another mysterious hacker named "Alibaba" who wants them to steal a heart: Alibaba's actions lead them to discover that Alibaba is none other than Futaba Sakura , Sojiro's adoptive daughter who has become a shut-in after the trauma of witnessing her own mother's death and being blamed for it by her mother's co-workers.

In Futaba's Palace which represents a "tomb" she feels trapped in, they discover that Futaba wants her treasure stolen in order to free herself of her suicidal thoughts and her guilt towards her mother's death. When Futaba discovers she too can enter her own Palace, she is confronted by her own Shadow while the Phantom Thieves face off against her cognitive view of her mother Wakaba Isshiki who has become a monstrous beast in her mind. When Futaba finally accepts that she is not at fault for her mother's death, her Shadow transforms into the Persona Necronomicon , allowing her to help the Phantom Thieves turn the tide in battle against the monster, and successfully changing her heart and freeing her of her guilt.

The Phantom Thieves also discover that Wakaba was researching cognitive psience, which has some connection to their ability to enter the Metaverse. As summer vacation winds down and Futaba spends her first day outside, the Phantom Thieves question the popularity of one target on their website: Before they leave on their school trip to Hawaii, principal Kobayakawa mysteriously dies en route to the police, forcing several third-year students to act as chaperones so other teachers can stay behind and respond to police inquiries.

When they return to Tokyo, a fight between Ryuji and Morgana leads to Morgana quitting the group and investigating the palace himself. The Phantom Thieves ultimately investigate Okumura's Palace , resembling a space station, themselves, discovering that he views his employees as replacable robots. Although this spurs them to infiltrate the palace, they discover Morgana has taken a new Phantom Thief under his wing who is able to get through the Palace's biometric scanners, and the next day they discover she is none other than Okumura's own daughter Haru Okumura , who also wants to change her father's heart to end his mistreatment of his employees, and his selfish attempt to use her for his own means by arranging a marriage to Sugimura , the son of an influential politician.

Haru manages to mend the ill-feelings between Morgana and the others after they save the two of them from Sugimura's physical abuse, and she joins the Phantom Thieves, later awakening her Persona Milady when confronting the cognitive version of Sugimura in her father's palace.

Together, the Phantom Thieves manage to steal Okumura's treasure and give him a change of heart, but after they leave his Shadow behind, another person appears in the Palace and kills Okumura's Shadow. Okumura dies on live television after suffering a mental shutdown. During the ensuing investigation, Haru overhears that principal Kobayakawa also received a calling card, leading her to question if the Phantom Thieves were behind the principal's death as well, which they all know is not the truth.

The turn of events has also boosted Akechi's popularity, leading the school to request he visit them for the cultural festival. During a speech, Akechi reveals he has surmised the identies of the Phantom Thieves, but before he announces this he receives a call, and asks the gang to speak to him in private.

He reveals to them all that he has identified them as the Phantom Thieves, and even has a photograph of them entering the Metaverse. But he has also deduced that they cannot be responsible for the murders and mental shutdowns, because he too has entered the Metaverse and encountered the true culprit, only surviving because he obtained his Persona Robin Hood to defend himself.

He convinces them to infiltrate the palace of public prosecutor Sae Niijima , Makoto's sister, because he has discovered that she has had her sense of justice twisted to the point that she needs a change of heart and will falsely convict someone of being the Phantom Thieves without their intervention. Inside Niijima's Palace , which has turned the district courthouse into a rigged casino, they discover the source of her twisted desire to obtain a guilty verdict no matter the cost, and successfully defeat her Shadow self and convinced her to change her ways, when suddenly the Palace is infiltrated by dozens of real police officers.

The protagonist agrees to go off on his own to distract the cops, allowing his friends to go free, when he is captured and told one of his teammates has sold him out. In police custody, the protagonist is drugged, beaten and forced to sign a false confession, when Sae comes into his cell to interrogate him, which has been seen in a series of flash-forwards since the protagonist began his probation in Tokyo.

This brings the game back to where it belonged at the start and concludes it. Depending on how the protagonist responds to Sae's questioning, he either reveals the names of his friends and accomplices, leading to a "bad ending" where he is assassinated by the traitor , or the drugs begin to wear off and he remembers the truth, convincing Sae to take his cellphone and show it to Akechi on the way out of the interrogation cell.

After Sae leaves, and she passes Akechi in the hallway, Akechi speaks to the protagonist himself, taking the guard's gun and murdering the guard and the protagonist, later calling his superior Masayoshi Shido that he has succeeded in his task.

If the protagonist was successful in convincing Sae of the truth, she does show Akechi the phone, and receives instructions from "Alibaba" on the other end to do as she says. The next day, the news announces that the leader of the Phantom Thieves has apparently committed suicide in custody, but the rest of the gang seems to know the truth. They all meet at Leblanc days later, where it is revealed that the protagonist is alive and well. They never stole Sae's treasure, allowing Makoto to convince Shadow Sae to create a cognitive copy of the interrogation room, the protagonist and his guard in the Metaverse, as the Palace extended to the police station.

They had all discovered Akechi had been conspiring against them from the start, after Morgana recalled Akechi had heard him speak months earlier at the TV station, when only people who have heard him speak in the Metaverse can hear him as a cat in reality.

With Sojiro and Sae's help, the Phantom Thieves realize that they have been manipulated by Masayoshi Shido from the start, as he has been conspiring to use the Phantom Thieves to bolster his popularity among people to become Prime Minister, and he has been using Wakaba Isshiki's research on cognitive psience to manipulate the Metaverse to his own ends as well.

Indeed, all of the other Palaces they had infiltrated had some sort of direct connection to Shido's plans: Principal Kobayakawa knowingly let Kamoshida abuse students and tried to use Makoto to silence the controversy surrounding the school, Madarame's plagiarized art helped fund Shido as did Kaneshiro's blackmail schemes, the Medjed impersonator was one of Shido's cronies who intended to admit defeat on the day of the cleanse in order to bolster the Phantom Thieves' popularity Futaba's hacking into them was an unexpected event, but was ignored as it worked in their favor , and Okumura was a party to the conspiracy, using it to further himself until he became a liability, leading to the hacking of the Phantom Thieves fansite to push Okumura to the top of their rankings so that the Conspiracy could frame them for his murder.

A confrontation with Shido later leads the protagonist to remember that Shido is the one who led to his false arrest earlier in the year, all as part of his attempts to keep his record spotless and win the election to Prime Minister of Japan with no opposition. After realizing that he sees the National Diet as a ship he must steer, the Phantom Thieves infiltrate Shido's Palace to find a cruise ship sailing through a sinking Tokyo where they confront Cognitive beings who Shido has managed to turn into powerful Shadows to protect him.

Once they defeat these five men, they are confronted by Akechi who has realized that the protagonist never died. He fights the Phantom Thieves, revealing his innate power to drive people's hearts mad, and admitting that he is the one behind all of the mental shutdown incidents before.

This is all part of his plan to get Shido into power and then hold power over him when he reveals to the new Prime Minister that he is his bastard son, all in revenge for driving his mother to suicide. When he is finally defeated by the Phantom Thieves, he drives his own heart mad and summons his another Persona Loki to battle them once more.

After they successfully defeat him again, Shido's cognitive version of Akechi appears to kill the real Akechi for failing him, as Shido has already surmised that Akechi is his son and he cannot have any loose ends that might threaten his power. Akechi, however, has realized the error in his ways and makes amends with the Phantom Thieves, locking him up in a room with the cognitive version of himself that will flood and kill both of them while saving the others.

The Phantom Thieves then make it to the site of the treasure, and return to the real world to film a video broadcast to all of Japan that their leader is still alive and they will make Shido pay for his misdeeds.

They successfully defeat Shadow Shido, but this makes the real Shido realize that something is amiss, so he attempts to kill the Phantom Thieves by taking a poison that will temporarily kill himself, destroying his Palace and everyone inside.

The Phantom Thieves barely make it out alive, and Shido's aides discover that they successfully changed his heart, leading them to panic, particularly after he admits all his wrongdoings live on television after his party's victory in the Diet. However, no one seems to think that the Phantom Thieves had anything to do with it. This leads the Phantom Thieves to investigate Mementos on Christmas Eve in order to enact a change of heart on everyone by stealing the public unconscious's treasure.

They discover that the people of Tokyo have suddenly decided to allow themselves to be imprisoned by the impositions of society at large, that it is easier to allow themselves to give into a greater force controlling them than make their own decisions on their lives.

In the depths of Mementos they find the public's treasure, a giant Holy Grail , which speaks to them and demands that they submit to its power. They are unsuccessful in defeating the Holy Grail and are ejected from Mementos, only to find that Shibuya and Mementos are beginning to fuse together, and that they are all disappearing now that the Phantom Thieves have left the public's cognition. The protagonist awakens in the Velvet Room once more where Igor berates him for failing, and orders Caroline and Justine to execute him.

After a battle that leaves the protagonist nearly dead, the two girls realize that something is strange, and asks the protagonist to fuse them together just as they had fused Personas for him over the past year.

This transforms the two of them into their original form: Lavenza then reveals that "Igor" is an impostor who has rigged all of the past year's events against the protagonist in a game to decide the fate of humanity with both the protagonist and Akechi as the "players. Should he accept, the bad ending will start playing. Should he refuse, "Igor" leaves to become one with the Holy Grail once more, and Lavenza reveals the true Igor has been trapped here all this time and that the protagonist's friends are alive elsewhere in the "jail" of the Velvet Room.

After freeing his friends, Lavenza and the real Igor help him return to free Tokyo, and Morgana finally remembers that the real Igor created him using the hopes of humanity's freedom to find the true Trickster to stop the evil behind the Holy Grail. The Phantom Thieves go on their true final mission to destroy the Holy Grail , as the friends and Confidants made along the way—Phan-site administrator Yuuki Mishima, homeroom teacher Sadayo Kawakami , Doctor Tae Takemi , model gun shop owner Munehisa Iwai , fortune teller Chihaya Mifune , investigative journalist Ichiko Ohya , video game child prodigy Shinya Oda , shogi expert Hifumi Togo , former politician Toranosuke Yoshida and Sojiro Sakura and Sae Niijima—rally the public into believing the Phantom Thieves exist and revealing the horror that surrounds them.

The Phantom Thieves defeat the Shadows of the 4 archangels; Uriel , Raphael , Gabriel and Michael on the way and managed to make it to the Holy Grail once more and battle it, but it soon transforms into its true form, the "God" Yaldabaoth , who punishes the Phantom Thieves with the various Seven Deadly Sins until the public finally believes in the Phantom Thieves enough to free them from Yaldabaoth's control.

This allows the protagonist to awaken the Persona Satanael to finally destroy Yaldabaoth and save humanity. This causes the collapse of the Metaverse entirely, and Morgana bids his friends a fond farewell. With everyone saved, and Tokyo back to normal, the gang decides to hold a party to celebrate their success on Christmas Day. However, the protagonist is approached by Sae, who tells him that in order to prosecute Shido, he must turn himself in to the police to provide testimony so that none of his friends face arrest.

The other Phantom Thieves learn about this terrible news the next day, and spend the next several months trying to free him, as do all of his other Confidants. By spring, Shido has successfully been tried and the actions of his friends led to the woman he saved the previous year recanting her testimony against him, overturning his original conviction and clearing his record. Persona 5 ending With the Stars and Us. Now a free man, the protagonist heads back to Tokyo one last time to spend one more day with his friends before he goes back to his hometown.

Morgana appears as well, having survived the collapse of the Metaverse due to his physical cat form existing in the cognition of the other Phantom Thieves, and he decides to spend the rest of his life with the protagonist to "keep him in line" and to see if there is truly a way for him to become a human as he thought he was. After spending Valentine's Day at Leblanc, the protagonist heads home with his friends at his side, driving him back to his hometown. Persona 5 discusses the hardships of modern-day 21st century society and features characters that are restrained by the rules set by this society, especially in Japan where the game is set.

This freedom is meant to liberate those who "are bored and discontent with their lives. Persona 5 contains some Judeo-Christian symbolism. The bosses are loosely themed after the Seven Deadly Sins , a boss called the Holy Grail appears, many enemies are based on Abrahamic figures , the song Rivers in the Desert is likely an Isaiah reference, etc. The player is also forced to defeat the four Christian archangels Uriel , Raphael , Gabriel and Michael.

A major theme is that the protagonist and the Phantom Thieves are working to defeat the Seven Deadly Sins that humanity is attached to, such as lust, greed, pride, etc - the protagonist is called the savior of humanity, and defeating these vices is essential to overcoming the enslaved mindset and condition of humanity. Like Persona 3 and Persona 4 , the story takes place over the course of a year and the player must balance high school life and saving the world.

The protagonist lives in the attic of Cafe Leblanc. The player can explore various locations in the Greater Tokyo Area and travel using the subway system. The player can take part-time jobs, play video games, go out with friends, go to restaurants, study, go to the movies, play baseball, go to the bathhouse, fishing, exercise in your own home or go to the gym, make equipment for use in battle, messages, watch TV, go to the clinic.

A certain amount of these activities can increase the player's stat performance such as their Max HP and SP. There are also a variety of minigames. The Confidant system is similar to the Social Links of Persona 3 and Persona 4 and involves building relationships with helpers around the city for various benefits in the Palace as well as battle. During the prologue, the player can select the difficulty from "Safety," "Easy," "Normal" and "Hard.

Even if someone has never played Persona 5 before, choosing Normal should be fine. The Palace of every arc of the main story line has a certain deadline to complete like Persona 4. Failure to complete the Palace before the deadline will result in a "false ending" Game Over scene. Unlike Persona 3 and 4 , it is impossible to explore past dungeons so it is imperative to explore dungeons as much as possible.

One of the major complaints about previous Persona dungeons is that they were boring and felt like a series of unending similar barren hallways with the occasional treasure chest or Shadow.

Persona 5 was designed with this criticism in mind; all Palaces except Mementos are not randomly generated, they feature unique elements of platforming jumping up and down ledges , puzzles, stealth and traps.

A side quest dungeon called Mementos is where the player can traverse by driving a vehicle transformed from Morgana where they can collect treasures, obtain Personas which are present in the previously collapsed Palaces and steal the hearts of the targets submitted to the Phantom Aficionado Website Phan-site.

Mementos is affected by the weather , and it is a good idea to explore Mementos during days with bad weather for advantages in battle. Battle can be initiated when the player is in stealth mode and ambushes the enemy by surprise which gives preemptive turn.